8-year-old girl reunites with rescuer who saved her from burning NoDa home

CHARLOTTE, NC (FOX 46) - A little girl is reuniting with her heroes. Katlyn Cook, 8, was severely burned in a NoDa apartment fire in February 2017. FOX 46 Charlotte cameras captured the moment Cook saw the man who saved her life.

Warmth radiates between the Charlotte firefighters and the Cook family. It’s the kind of bond that's forged by fire.

"I'm just so thankful for Station 7 period. If they hadn't have gotten there, I might not even be able to sit here and hold her," Rajeeni Hayes-Cook said as she held her 8-year-old daughter Katlyn.

The miracle of it all began when the firefighters happened to see the fire before even getting the call.

"Our engineer Keith hollered, ‘get your stuff on, whatever it is is burning.’ Looked up ahead and you could see fire blowing out in the street,” Travis Phillips said, who went into the flames and found Katlyn.

She was severely burned and not breathing.

"I felt what I thought was somebody. Reached Robby, smacked him, and said I’ve got her I’m going out. I grabbed Katlyn and we went outside."

More than half of Katlyn's body was severely burned in the fire. Her mom said Katlyn spent two months at the burn center in Winston-Salem.

"They were saying she may not make it. Her kidneys were failing. She's a fighter. She pulled through. I'm proud of her," Hayes-Cook said.